Ulissi renews his contract and intends to double down in Turkey

UAE Team Emirates will try to shine again this year in the Tour of Turkey, the race they won last season thanks to Diego Ulissi. The Italian rider has just renewed his contract with the Emirati team for another two years (2019-2020), and he will be the beacon for the team in the six stages of this World Tour race, which is taking place from 9 to 14 October.

Sports Directors Marco Marzano (Italy) and Simone Pedrazzini (Switzerland) will deploy these 7 riders:
– Sven Erik Bystrøm (Norway)
– Simone Consonni (Italy)
– Valerio Conti (Italy)
– Kristijan Durasek (Croatia)
– Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway)
– Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland)
– Diego Ulissi (Italy)

Diego Ulissi: “I have fantastic memories of the last edition of the Tour of Turkey: I made the most of the top form I was in, on a very interesting route that was suited to my skills. This year’s route won’t be much different than 2017’s; the stage in Selçuk, on the fourth day of the race, will still be the crucial fraction for the general classification.  As always, in every stage we will have to pay attention to the wind, which could break up the group.
UAE Team Emirates will be well equipped, with a good group of climbers, including Kristijan Durasek, who won in 2015; he will be a very important figure for us. I’m very happy about the contract renewal. It would be lovely, for the team and for me, to close out the season well, with a prestigious result, but I am aware of the fact that the competition will be even tougher than last year.”

The Tour of Turkey will be the last race in the career of Przemyslaw Niemiec. The Polish rider, who made it to sixth place in the 2013 Giro d’Italia, scored the latest of his 15 career successes right here in the Turkish race (the Istanbul stage in 2016).
A big thanks goes out to Przemyslaw on behalf of the General Manager Giuseppe Saronni and the entire Team, for the professionalism and camaraderie that always set him apart.